Russ House - Botanical - Jackson County, Florida

The history of
The Russ House
Jackson County, Florida
by
Merritt Dekle
July 2000

All rights reserved!


"The Grounds"

Wisteria

Wisteria

The original boundaries of the Russ Estate were far more vast than they are today. Prior to the widening of Highway 90 in the 1960s, the frontage on what was then called West Lafayette Street (the home held the address 310 West Lafayette St. until the rezoning of Marianna in the early 1990s) was about 20 feet deeper than it is today, as was the triangle of land at the intersection of Russ and Lafatette Streets. The western boundary extended over to Daffin Street and the northern boundary all the way to Kelson Street.

On this eastern point of land stood a "summerhouse", a gazebo like structure, that complemented the architecture of the home. There were originally large great oaks and magnolia trees and I've always heard that wisteria vines, passion flower and coral vines grew unchecked, creating a spectacular sight when in bloom. There were many crepe myrtles trees in the watermelon shade, altheas, and of course the azaleas, hydrangeas and camelias so characteristic of Southern homes. Old photos of the home show many tropical plants positioned on the grounds, including date palms, century plants, and banana plants. Bordering the stucco wall that supported the double sets of Corinthian columns supporting the porte-cochere were large tufts of pampas grass.

To the west of the home, Bettie Russ had a large rose garden and there was also a grape arbor on the grounds where they grew Scuppernong grapes to make wine. There were also vegetable gardens and fruit orchards located on the property. I assume these all existed up until the time when most of the property was lost during the early 1930s.

There were originally tea olives planted on the grounds and I recall my mother and her cousin reminiscing about the wonderful scent they created. They also had banana shrubs, with those little blossoms that smell like bananas. The neighborhood girls used to put the blossoms in their hankerchieves to keep them perfumed with the scent.

When I was growing up, in the 1950s, there was a fortress of bamboo on the west boundary of the house, and there were several mimosa, redbud and dogwood trees on the property. The dogwoods were the only white flowers on the property, because Big Mama said white flowers reminded her of funerals, unlike my mother whose favorite flower was the gardenia (one of the first things my father would do when we moved into a new house was to plant gardenias for her). The other exception was magnolia blossoms, which she dearly loved. In her latter years, when we would go on drives, we would always have to stop and pick a magnolia for Big Mama when they were in bloom, and to this day, I always leave one on her grave when I go over.

The sidewalk that wrapped around the front of the house and circled around the porch was bordered with aspidistra, or cast iron plants, and there were pittisporums planted in front of the lattice panels on the foundation of the porch. There was a large border of bridal's wreath and spirea that circled the space where you drove onto the property off of Russ Street through a "gate" of bamboo. In summer, she would plant white-veined caladiums (she said the colored varieties were "common"), and she had a garden bordering Lafayette St. where she grew ranunculas and zinnias.

The sago palms on either side of the sidewalk steps on Lafayette St. are named Dor and Les, after my late aunt Dorothy Beard and her husband Les. They had given them to us years ago and it just seemed natural to name them in honor of this couple who were as devoted to each other in their late eighties as they were as a young couple.

Many of the original shrubs and trees were still in existence when the home passed over to the Chamber of Commerce in 1995, but almost everything, including all of Big Mama's prize camelias, was cut down when the rehabilitation began. Dor and Les, fortunatly, survived.

Althea
Althea
Hurricane Lily
Hurricane Lily
Rain Lilies
Rain Lilies

Rain Lilies
Since the yard was always kind of natural, there were these rain lilies that shot up in the springtime throughout the summer. They eventually covered the entire yard, and the highway shoulder below, a spectacular sight that I, and many locals really enjoyed. To me they were just synonymous with the house. In the early fall, hurricane lillies appeared to take their place.
Wisteria Vines
Vines
Wisteria
Wisteria
Spirea
Spirea

Mimosa
Mimosa
Azaleas
Azaleas
Crepe Myrtle
Crepe Myrtle
Passion Flower
Passion Flower
Aspidistra
Aspidistra


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Betty James Smith
29 Sep 2000

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James L. Edenfield
16 Jun 2001